To Dance
by ickle-s-10
Summary: au preRENT: It's Mark's Bar Mitzvah party, and all of the Bohemians are there. And everyone wants to dance with someone else. Just some cute fluff that I've been meaning to write. Rated for the repeated use of the same word in the same content. Finished!
1. Chapter 1

**Basically, I felt like being Jewish. But then I decided to leave Mark's Bar Mitzvah service out of this. So this is just the party. Just so that you know, in this story all of the "Bohemians" are the same age, and they're all in eighth grade. Also, at this point no one has come out, EXCEPT for Joanne.**

**THIS IS IMPORTANT: Angel is referred to as "he", because she's only fourteen-ish, and everyone's pronounces her name 'An-_h_el,' EXCEPT FOR MIMI, who says 'An-_g_el.'**

**I don't own RENT. **

"For this next dance, we'd like to ask Mark to ask that one special lady in his life to dance with him."

Mark sighed and looked up at the DJ, who shrugged his shoulders at Mark, as if to say "Hey, they ask me to say those things. It's not _my_ fault." Taking a deep breath, Mark got up and walked across the dance floor to where the adults were sitting. If it had been _his_ choice, he would have asked Maureen to dance, considering that's what he'd been dreaming about for the past seven years. But since everyone knew what was expected of him, Mark went up to his mother and extended his hand.

She took it with a smile, of course, pretending that the entire thing hadn't been planned. Together to two of them walked up to the empty dance floor. Trying not to think that Roger and Collins were never going to let him live this down, Mark began to dance to the first slow song with his mother.

----------------------------

Across the room, Angel was tugging at his collar. "I can't _believe_ that my mom made me wear this." He was wearing a white short-sleeved collared shirt and dress pants that were just a little, little bit too tight.

"Oh, it's not _that_ bad Angel," Mimi answered. The two of them were the only ones sitting at their table; everyone else had gone to get drinks.

"First it all _yes it is, _Mimi," Angel said. "And second of all, _don't_ call me that here!"

"Oh, come on, no one's going to hear me," Mimi replied. "And if they did, so what? You're planning to come out publicly next year, aren't you? You might as well do it now. And you _could_ have done it by wearing one of my skirts, like I _told_ you to."

"Well, maybe………but no." Angel gave Mimi a look. Mimi opened her mouth like she was about to say something, but then decided against it.

"_Anyways_," Angel went on, obviously trying to change the subject. "Why don't you ask Benny to dance later? He keeps hinting that he wants to go out with you."

"Erg, Benny?" asked Mimi making a face. "No way. He's smart and all, but he's just too………boring for me. But then other times he keeps acting like he wants to get into my pants. It's just _weird_."

"Alright, fine," Angel answered. The two of them were quiet for a minute. Suddenly, Angel asked Mimi, "Who's _that_ guy over there? You know, talking to Maureen?"

Mimi looked to see where he was pointing. "Um………I don't remember his name. He's in my English class. Why? Do you _like_ him?"

"No," Angel answered. "Besides from the fact that he's fucking _gorgeous_, I don't like him at all."

Mimi smiled. "Do you know you _that_ guy is? Sitting next to Fucking Gorgeous?"

"Yeah, that's Roger. He's all right……….kind of moody, and I don't know, he's a little bit of a bad boy."

"Well _I'm_ bad," Mimi answered with a mischievous smile.

---------------------------------

"I'd like to now ask all other couples to join Mark and his mother on the floor," said the DJ through his microphone, as he started up another slow song.

---------------------------------

A few tables away from Mimi and Angel, Maureen had been making fun of Mark with Collins. She kept hoping that Collins would notice how low the top of her dress was, but he didn't seem to care. "C'mon," she said to him after getting a bit bored of teasing Mark. "Dance with me." She grabbed his hands and stood up.

"Uh………do you really want to?" asked Collins, looking very unexcited.

"Well I _asked_ you, didn't I?" answered Maureen. "Please? Just as friends?"

"Fine," Collins said with a sigh. He stood up, and caught Roger's eye, who looked as if he was trying his best not to laugh. Collins gave Roger the finger, and then walked over to the dance floor with Maureen.

--------------------------------

"Shit," Angel muttered as she saw Fucking Gorgeous go up to dance with Maureen.

"It doesn't mean anything," said Mimi patting him on the arm. "The two of them are like, best friends." Angel gave her a look. "Really, you still could have chance." Angel gave her another look, this time a very skeptical one.

Suddenly, Benny walked up to Mimi and Angel. "Would you like to dance?" he asked Mimi, extending his hand. Mimi bit her lip, looked at Angel, and nodded. With a sigh, she got up with him and the two of them walked over to the dance floor.

---------------------------------

"Mark sweetie, what's wrong?" asked Mrs. Cohen as the two of them continued to dance.

"Oh, it's………nothing," Mark answered, trying his best not to look at Collins and Maureen. How could the two of them be dancing together? Collins _knew_ that Mark had been madly in love with Maureen since kindergarten. How could he do that to him?

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Over by the tables, Joanne had gone and sat next to Roger. She was basically wearing the same thing as Angel, except her shirt was a little bit more girly. "Hey Joanne," he said to her as she sat down.

"Hi," she answered. The two of them were quiet for a moment. Roger was taking turns looking at Mark and trying not to laugh and staring at that gorgeous Hispanic girl who was dancing with Benny. "Roger?" Joanne asked suddenly. "Who's that girl dancing with Collins?"

"Oh, her?" Roger answered. "That's Maureen. Why?"

"Just— just wondering," said Joanne.

"She not your type," Roger said immediately. "Trust me. She's loud, and _really_ opinionated."

"So? _I_ have opinions. There's nothing wrong with a girl having a _mind_, Roger."

Roger rolled his eyes. "I know _that_," he answered. "Anyways, who's that girl dancing with Benny?"

"Mimi," Joanne said. "She's also a little headstrong………well, I just mean that she doesn't let _anybody_ influence her."

"I don't have a problem with that. Besides, she is _hot_………"

**Like it? Hate it? Please review! I originally thought that this would be a oneshot, but now it'll probably be about three or four chapters. I already have a lot more written though, I just have to revise it. **

**I know Mark wasn't exactly in this chapter that much…….sorry about that……but he'll be in the next ones a lot, don't worry.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow! I got _way_** **more** **reviews for this than I expected! Thanks everyone! **

**This starts off right where the last chapter left off, so a quick review: Mark is still dancing with his mother (though he wants to dance with Maureen), Maureen is dancing with Collins, Mimi is dancing with Benny, Angel thinks that "Fucking Gorgeous" is straight, but he's still likes him, Roger and Mimi both like each other, and Joanne likes Maureen. Whew!**

**I still don't own RENT. **

Maureen and Collins, meanwhile, were still dancing. Maureen had thought that Collins might start to like her more as an actual _girl_, versus a friend, if they were dancing together, but it was turning out a bit awkward for both of them.

"Uh, Collins?" asked Maureen after a minute of dancing and not looking at each other. "This is kinda weird."

Collinsmade eye contact with her for the first time since they'd been dancing. "Fuckin' weird," he answered.. The two of them stared at each other for a moment, before simultaneously dropping their arms and bursting out laughing. Still smiling, they walked back over to the tables and sat down next to Joanne and Roger.

"What's so funny?" asked Roger.

"Nothing," said Maureen. "We were just laughing over poor Mark up there………"

"Hey," Collins asked suddenly. "Do you guys know who that guy is over there? Sitting alone?"

"That's Angel," answered Maureen. "He's pretty nice, kinda quiet………why?"

"Just wondering………I mean, I feel kind of bad, since he's sitting alone and all………maybe I'll got talk to him."

"Sure," said Roger with a shrug. Collins got up and walked over to Angel.

-------------------

Meanwhile, Benny's right hand was slowly traveling down the back of Mimi's waist. She suddenly stamped on his foot with her three inch heels.

"Shit," Benny muttered, putting his hand back on her waist. Mimi just smiled sweetly at him.

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Angel tried his very best not to gasp as Fucking Gorgeous came over and sat down next to him. "Hey," he said.

"Hi," Angel answered nervously, feeling goose bumps erupt all over his arms. "I'm Angel."

"Collins," he said. "Well, Tom Collins, but no one call me that. Are you cold?" he asked, looking at Angel's arms.

"Oh— no, don't worry, I'm fine," Angel answered.

"Here— do you want my jacket?" Collins asked as he took off his sports jacket and handed it to him. "It's probably a little big, but it should cover you."

"Um, yeah, sure," Angel said, taking the jacket. He put it on, hardly daring to believe that Fucking Gorgeous— well, Collins— was flirting with him.

The two of them were both quiet for a minute. Angel was just trying to think of something else to say when it suddenly occurred to him that Collins _couldn't_ be flirting with him. He had just been dancing with _Maureen_. Suddenly feeling slightly sick Angel said to Collins, "I'm— I'm gonna go get a drink. I'll be right back."

"Do you want me to come?" asked Collins immediately. So _maybe_ he liked him………

"Uh, no, it's fine. Do you want something?" said Angel.

"Um………could you get me a Coke?"

"Yeah, sure," Angel answered. Still wearing Collins' jacket, he walked up to the 'kids bar.'

----------------------

Collins was now left sitting alone at Angel's table. He was getting a little confused, considering that he'd never told anyone that he was gay, and now he really thought that he liked Angel, who had just left him. Just then, the song that had been playing ended. Almost immediately, Mark came up to him.

"You danced with Maureen!" Mark shouted at Collins. "Maureen! Don't you know that I have been waiting for today _just_ so that I could ask her to dance for_ever_?"

"Jesus, Mark, calm down," Collins said to Mark. "First of all, she asked me. And second of all………it didn't really work. You saw us go sit down halfway through the song, didn't you?"

"Well— well yeah," sputtered Mark. "But still. The point is that _you_ danced with _her_. That's not _fair_."

"Mark, if you really want to dance with Maureen, just go and _ask_ her already. You _could_ have just done that, instead of going up to your _mother_."

"Collins, _everyone_ was expecting me to do that! My mom _told_ me to! It's what people _do_ at these things! I couldn't just go up to Maureen. All of my relatives would've liked, shunned me or something."

Collins rolled his eyes. "Fine. But you can still ask her. It's _your_ Bar Mitzvah, Mark. _Yours_. It's not like Maureen's going to say no or anything. And I _told_ you, us dancing together was just _weird_. For _both_ of us."

Mark slowly sank down into Angel's empty chair. "But I'm scared," he confessed.

Collins rolled his eyes again. "Do you want me to ask her _for_ you?"

"No!" Mark said immediately.

"Then you'll just have to do it yourself. Ask the DJ to play a slow song, and then just you and ask her."

---------------------

Meanwhile, Mimi had run up to Angel at the bar as soon as the song was over and she didn't have to dance with Benny anymore. "Oh my _G-d_, were you just talking with Fucking Gorgeous?" she asked him.

Angel nodded. "You mean Collins," he said with a small smile, biting his lip. "And he gave me his coat to wear." Mimi's eyes widened, and this time she smiled. "But he was just dancing with Maureen," Angel continued. "So I don't know what to think."

"Well then, you'll just have to ask him out later, won't you?" suggested Mimi, smirking.

"No, I won't." Angel answered quickly. "I'll just go talk to him more. I got him a drink." He held up the Coke.

"Aww!" Mimi squealed.

"Don't get too excited yet. This may mean nothing." Mimi rolled her eyes. "Anyways," Angel went on, "how was dancing with Benny?"

"He tried to put his hand on my butt," Mimi replied.

"Oh, sweetie," said Angel, patting her on the arm.

"It's okay," Mimi said. "I stomped on his foot."

Angel laughed. "So," she went on, "if you don't have to dance with Benny anymore, does that mean that you're gonna ask Roger?"

"Maybe," Mimi answered with a small smile. "But before I do that, you should _probably_ go and give Fucking Gorgeous his drink, shouldn't you?"

"Oh, right," said Angel smiling. He picked up both Cokes and walked back over to Collins.

**Reviewpleasemaybeandmakemehappy?**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you so, so, SO much to everyone who has reviewed so far! I _never_ thought I would get so many for this story! Thanks again!**

**Quick recap: Maureen and Collins realized that they didn't dance well together, so Collins went and introduced himself to Angel. Mark yelled at Collins for dancing with Maureen, but Mark still really wants to ask her to dance. Benny tried to feel Mimi up, then Mimi went and talked to Angel at the 'kids bar.' Angel left Mimi to go talk to Collins some more.**

**For this chapter, remember what I said before about Angel's name, and how Mimi is the only one that calls him "An-gel."**

**I don't own RENT.**

Benny, meanwhile, had sat down next to Roger after dancing with Mimi.

"Hey Benny," said Roger as Benny sat down next to him. "You know that girl you were dancing with? Mimi?" Benny nodded. "Um………how do you know her?"

"We had classes together last year," said Benny. "I always kinda liked her………but she stepped on my foot while we were dancing, so I don't think anything's really going to happen between us."

Roger tried his best not to show how excited he was about Benny's comment. "That's too bad," he said. "But wait………did she _mean_ to stamp on your foot?"

Benny bit his lip. "Well………I may have tried to put my hand on her ass………"

Roger rolled his eyes. "I wonder why she stepped on you then," he said sarcastically. Inwardly, however, Roger was thinking that he couldn't really blame Benny for doing that.

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Angel was surprised, and a bit disappointed, to see Mark talking to Collins; he had wanted to have Collins all to himself. Still, Angel sat down next to the two of them.

"Hey Mark," Angel said to Mark as he sat down. Then he turned to Collins. "Here's your Coke," Angel said with a smile.

"Thanks," Collins answered. The two of them held eye contact for a second. Angel couldn't help but think that he really was just _so_ _fucking gorgeous_. Unfortunately, Mark interrupted his happy thoughts.

"Um, Angel?" Mark asked. Angel (regrettably) switched his focus back to Mark. "Isn't that Collins' jacket?"

Angel looked down at the jacket he was wearing for a moment before answering. "Oh, yeah," he said. Mark looked confused. "I was cold," Angel said with a shrug. "Collins offered to let me wear it."

"Wait a second," said Mark suddenly. "Do— do you two know each other?"

Collins and Angel looked at each other. "No," Angel answered with a smile.

"We just met," said Collins.

Mark looked like he was about to say something, but then thought the better of it. "Whatever," he said with a shrug.

"So, are you gonna go ask Maureen now?" asked Collins turning to Mark.

"Ooh, you're gonna ask Maureen to dance?" asked Angel excitedly, looking from Mark to Collins.

Mark turned a little red. "Well— well yeah, I though I might………" he muttered.

"Aww, you should," Angel told him. "I'm sure she'd be very happy to dance with you."

"Thanks," Mark answered. "So I………guess I'll go talk to the DJ now." He looked at Collins and Angel, as if he almost wanted them to tell him not to do it, but neither of them said anything. "See you later," he said.

"Good luck!" Angel called after him.

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A few seats away from Roger and Benny, Maureen had been talking to Joanne.

"You were staring at me before," said Maureen playfully with a smile.

"I— I was _not_," answered Joanne as her stomach plummeted. How could Maureen have noticed that?

"Yes you were," Maureen said in a sing-song voice. "When I was dancing with Collins. _You_ were staring at me."

"Well, I may have _glanced_ at you," admitted Joanne, "but that doesn't mean I was _staring_ at you."

Maureen rolled her eyes. "Fine," she said with a pout. "You don't _have_ to admit it. But I know you were."

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After Angel had left Mimi to go talk to Collins, Mimi had decided that she was going to introduce herself to Roger. Taking a deep breath, she left the 'kids bar' and walked over to his table, where he was sitting next to Benny. Trying her best to ignore Benny, Mimi sat down on Roger's other side.

"Hi," she said to him, crossing her legs so that he could see how short her red dress was.

"Um………hi," he answered. On Roger's other side, Benny was quite pointedly not looking at either of them.

"I'm Mimi," she said with a small smile that she hoped looked flirty.

"Roger," he told her.

"Uh………I was wondering," she began, "if you could help me get my sweater. I left it in the coat room, but I think that got hung up too high for me to reach."

"Sure," Roger answered, looking confused. "But, wouldn't you rather ask Collins? He's about six inches taller than me." Roger gestured over to the table where Angel and Collins were sitting, and where Mark at just left.

"It's okay, I don't want to disturb Angel and Fucking Gorgeous."

"You don't— what?" asked Roger, bewildered.

"Oh," said Mimi, shocked at what she'd just said. "I meant— never mind. Would you help me though?"

"I guess," said Roger with a shrug.

"Okay………so can you come help me now?" asked Mimi, giving him another flirty smile.

"Sure," Roger answered. He slowly stood up, and Mimi led him out into the hallway.

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Breathing heavily, Mark slowly walked over to Maureen's table. He'd just asked the DJ to play another slow song, and now it was starting up.

Mark swallowed as he got nearer to Maureen's table. After seven years of waiting, he was finally going to do it. He tried to convince himself that there was nothing to be nervous over, that even if Maureen didn't like him the way he liked her then she would still say yes anyway, because it was his Bar Mitzvah, but Mark's stomach still felt like jell-o.

Taking a deep breath, Mark approached Maureen. She was sitting next to Joanne, and right near Roger, Benny and Mimi.

"M—Maureen?" he asked tentatively. "Do you want to dance with me?"

Maureen's eyes widened. She obviously hadn't been expecting this. "Oh— sure, Mark," she said with a smile as she stood up.

Hardly believing his luck, Mark took her hand and the two of them headed out to the dance floor.

**There's only one chapter left now. It'll probably be kinda short, I'm not sure.**

**Review please!**


	4. Chapter 4

**So much for a short chapter. This is almost 2,000 words long. Anyways, I apologize profusely for this taking so long to get out. Sorry!**

**It is the end though, so please review! I don't own RENT.**

As Joanne watched Maureen go up onto the dance floor to dance with Mark, she felt extremely confused and stupid at the same time. She couldn't believe that she'd actually thought that she might have had a chance with Maureen. In half an hour, the girl had already danced with _two_ guys. _Guys_. Which meant………that Maureen probably wasn't interested in girls.

Suddenly, Joanne remembered that Roger had only told her that Maureen 'wasn't her type,' not that she was straight. So that meant………that maybe she was a lesbian? Or that she was bi? After thinking about it for a minute, Joanne decided to just go and ask Roger. He and Mimi had only been gone for a minute, so she figured that she might be able to catch him before he "got Mimi's sweater."

"I'm………uh— going to the bathroom," Joanne said to Benny before getting up and walking out the door, not waiting to see if he'd heard her.

She saw Roger and Mimi just ahead of her in the hallway. "Roger!" Joanne called as she sped up to the two of them. Mimi looked obviously upset that Joanne was there. "I just wanted to ask you………you know when we were talking about Maureen before?"

"Yeah…….." said Roger, looking confused.

"Well you never really told me— is she straight?"

Roger bit his lip. "Well," he answered, "none of us really know. She was always kinda hitting on Collins, and she does that with a bunch of other guys, but at the same time she very—um, friendly— to everyone, if you know what I mean."

"Okay," said Joanne slowly. "So does that mean………"

"It means whatever you want it to mean," said Roger with a shrug. "If you want to try something, go right ahead."

"Uh………thanks, I guess," Joanne said. "I'll just let you guys go………get Mimi's sweater then."

And with that, Roger and Mimi walked further down the hall, and Joanne went into the girl's room, because she figured that she needed to think thing's over.

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Mark was in heaven. Pure, real heaven. He could hardly believe that he was dancing with Maureen. _Maureen_. This had been his dream for years. And now it was finally happening.

He had subconsciously decided that he needed to take in every small detail of this experience. From the way that Maureen's hair was gently falling onto her shoulders, to the amazing chocolate brown of her eyes that he was staring so deeply at, to the way she oh-so-nicely filled out her short green dress, Mark was sure that he would remember it all forever.

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Maureen was getting very sick of having her feet stepped on. She realized that Mark was probably a bit tired, having just led an entire service in another language, but she still didn't understand why he had to stare so intensely at her face, while at the same time not paying any attention to where is feet were going. Was Mark even conscious? He was just staring, _without blinking_, at her eyes.

"Um………Mark?" Maureen asked after getting stepped on for the fourth time. He blinked. She figured that that was some form of reply. "You keep stepping on my feet." He blinked again.

"Oh— I'm sorry," he said with a very apologetic face after processing the question for a moment.

Well, maybe it was a bit cute the way he seemed to like her so much. But— ouch— (he stepped on her foot _again_) did he have to be so weird about it?"

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Angel and Collins, on the other hand, were not paying the least bit of attention to Mark and Maureen. After Mark had left, the two of them had been talking nervously, all the while not taking their eyes of each others faces.

Angel suddenly realized that Collins might almost consider it rude that he had been wearing his jacket the entire time. What if Collins had wanted it back and had been afraid to say so? Almost immediately, Angel stood up and began to shake of the jacket.

"Is something wrong?" asked Collins, looking alarmed.

"N—no," answered Angel, already feeling a bit stupid. "I just thought— that you might want your jacket back."

"I'm fine, really," said Collins.

"Well— I have my own that I could be wearing………"

"Oh," Collins said, looking confused. "Then do you— uh— want to go get it?"

"Oh— yeah, I guess," Angel answered, feeling even more stupid. He had just started the most pointless and awkward conversation ever. "It's in the coat room." He stood up. "Do you………want to come?"

"Yeah," Collins said instantly.

Inwardly, Angel breathed a sigh of relief. So this hadn't been that pointless. Now they got to spend more time together! And Collins didn't hate him either! Trying his very best not to smile like an idiot, Angel led the way out of the ballroom.

--------------------------

The song changed from a slow one to a fast one, and Maureen tried her best not to show how excited she was. "I'm………gonna go sit down now, okay?" she said to Mark, already taking her arms off his shoulders.

"Y— yeah, that's fine………" Mark answered, still with a dazed look on his face.

Maureen quickly walked over to the table and sit down next to Benny.

"So………you and Mark, huh?" Benny said to her with a smirk.

"Oh, shut up," Maureen told him, rolling her eyes. She realized that they were the only ones sitting at their table. "Where'd Joanne go?" she asked Benny.

"I don't know………I think she said the bathroom?" he answered with a slight question.

Maureen immediately perked up. "Thanks!" she said with a smile, before bouncing up and leaving the room.

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"It's right in here," Angel said to Collins as they approached the coat room. Angel grabbed the doorknob and pulled the door open.

"Shit, it's dark in here," Collins said as they walked into pitch blackness.

"Ew, what'd I just step on?" Angel squealed pulling his foot up.

"Ouch!"

"Sorry Collins, was that you?" Angel asked with a worried look on his face.

"No…….." he answered slowly.

"Then who………wait, I remember seeing a light switch before." Angel felt along the wall to the right of the door for a moment. "Oh, here it is!"

The lights flickered on. Angel and Collins looked around to see Roger, lying on the floor, with Mimi sitting on his waist with her legs on either side of him. Roger's tie and jacket were lying next to him.

Roger looked up at the two of them with his mouth hanging slightly open, a look of shock on his face. Mimi looked a little bit embarrassed until she got Angel's eye. Angel raised as eyebrow at her, giving her a small smile. Mimi grinned back with a look that said, "Well, I _told_ you I would." Collins, on the other hand, just burst out laughing.

Angel quickly crossed the room, took a jacket off its hanger, and started to head out the door. When he realized that Collins was still standing there laughing, he grabbed Collins' hand before dragging him out the door, turning the light off as he did so.

As soon as Angel shut the door, the two of them leaned back against it, Angel still holding Collins' hand. Collins raised an eyebrow at Angel.

"Hey, _I_ just wanted to get my jacket," Angel said to Collins. Angel started laughing, resting his head on Collins' shoulder as he did so. Collins quickly joined in.

After a few minutes, the two suddenly looked at each other and simultaneously dropped their hands. Angel straightened up. "We should………probably go back in there now, right?"

"Oh— yeah," Collins answered. The two of them began walking back down the hallway in silence, Angel half a step in front of Collins. "You're tag's un-tucked," said Collins suddenly.

"My— what?" asked Angel. "Oh!" he realized, bringing his hand up the back of his neck. Strangely, he didn't feel a tag.

"Never mind, I'll do it," said Collins hurriedly, reaching over to the back of Angel's neck. He pretended to tuck in a tag, which was pointless, because they were both wearing collared shirts, but it was just an excuse for Collins to slowly bring his hand down Angel's arm so that he could grab his hand again.

Angel looked up at Collins. Neither of them said anything. Still holding hands, they slowly walked back into the ballroom.

---------------------------

After Maureen had left, Mark had stayed on the dance floor for a few minutes, letting everything that had just happened sink in. He wasn't sure if he was even alive anymore. If you're alive, there's always some sort of thing that's worrying you, or something that's going wrong, but Mark felt none of that. He only felt pure happiness.

Still in a daze, he slowly sat down next to Benny. "Where'd Maureen go?" he asked suddenly, realizing that she had left him.

"Uh………bathroom?" Benny answered with a shrug.

"Oh………okay," Mark said faintly. He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes,

forcing himself to remember every single detail of the last five minutes.

He didn't open his eyes until he realized that more people had come and sat next to him. He opened them to see Collins and Angel sitting next to him, both looking at each other with small smiles on their faces.

"Where'd you guys go?" Mark asked the two of them.

"Oh………uh, coatroom," Collins answered, still staring at Angel.

"Why— never mind," Mark said.

"Oh!" Angel said suddenly, wrenching her gaze away from Collins to look at Mark. "Guess who was in there?"

"A talking coat?" asked Mark.

Angel rolled his eyes. "Roger and Mimi," he said smiling.

"You mean— oh," answered Mark, starting to laugh.

"That's right," Collins said, also laughing.

"Well, I guess I should've seen that coming," Mark said with a shrug. None of them noticed Benny trying very hard not to listen to their conversation.

The four of them continued talking for awhile. Mark noticed that Angel and Collins kept looking at each other with the same look that he'd been giving Maureen before. But Mark knew better than to say anything; if they wanted to be a couple, it was fine by him.

After a couple more minutes, just when Mark had begun to notice that Maureen had been taking an awfully long time in the bathroom, Maureen and Joanne suddenly came back into the ballroom together.

"Hey Markie," Maureen said with a smile as she bounced over to him and sat down. Joanne followed her, looking suddenly confused.

"Hey guys………what took so long in the bathroom?" Mark asked looking from Maureen to Joanne.

"Oh, it was nothing, just girl stuff," Maureen answered with a wave of her hand.

"Maureen, you were gone for like fifteen minutes," said Mark.

"We were just fixing our hair and stuff. Markie, don't _worry_ about it. It wasn't anything important." Behind Maureen, Joanne looked slightly insulted and confused, but she didn't say anything.

"Okay," Mark said slowly, deciding that they probably had just been putting on more makeup.

-----------------------------

Later that night, after everyone else had left, Mark and his family were walking out to the car. Mark was still reliving the four minutes that he had spent dancing with Maureen.

"Did you and your friends have fun, sweetie?" asked his mom, putting her arm around him.

"Yeah," Mark answered after a minute. "Yeah, I think we all did.

**And so we come to an end. Poor Mark, huh? I love you all!**


End file.
